There are many instances in which a single item of equipment can be used in different applications. Each application may require a particular nuance or variation of the equipment to satisfy particular needs. After a period of time in which the item of equipment is used and improved, it many times becomes modified or changed sufficiently such that its use becomes dedicated to the particular application. In this instance, the item of equipment is no longer universal due to the evolution of improvements.
Night vision equipment has undergone such an evolutionary development, particularly as used with armored vehicles, or the like. Because of the the diverse types of military armored vehicles which are available from many different manufacturers, there is required a corresponding variety of night vision equipment and mounting hardware required for the different types of vehicles. The adaptability of the noted vision equipment is further exacerbated when it is desired to retrofit the vision equipment to existing equipment which cannot be modified or is difficult to modify to accept such equipment.
Passive night vision equipment allows persons to view objects in the darkness by amplifying the faint light reflected from objects by the stars or the moon. Due to the complexity of night vision equipment, which includes various optical paths and precision lenses and mirrors, as well as a highly sophisticated and costly image amplifier tubes, the cost thereof is a major consideration in either retrofitting or originally equipping vehicles with night vision equipment. As can be appreciated, the adaption of a single type of night vision goggle to various applications is highly desirable over the use of plural different goggles for corresponding plural applications.
Night vision equipment utilized in connection with armored vehicles necessarily requires a periscope type of arrangement to enable a person inside the vehicle to view objects outside of the vehicle. Due to different characteristics of the armored vehicles, such as armor thickness, position of a vision equipment turret, etc., the periscope equipment required must also be different. Also, in armored vehicles having existing day vision periscope equipment, the constraints for adapting night vision equipment thereto are generally fixed or predetermined.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that a need exists for easily adapting costly night vision equipment to provide a high degree of flexibility for use with a variety of other equipment. There is an associated need to provide inexpensive adaptors for use with costly night vision equipment to enhance the universality of the equipment.